Dead or Alive: The Creed of the Shinobi
by Kurase Shindo
Summary: When fate challenges a clan of Shinobi in the form of an ancient and powerful evil, they do what they always do and that is follow the Creed and retaliate, or die trying. Unknown to them however is the re-appearance of another powerful foe. One who is more kin to them than they ever thought possible.


_I hereby declare no ownership to the characters presented in this story. They belong to their respective owners. This is only for entertainment purpose and to gauge my writing skills. __Now onward with the story._

** The Creed of the Shinobi**

**Chapter 1: Renegade**

A body blessed with amazing beauty flew through the air, landing expertly on a tree branch, before taking off to another with dazzling speed. Vibrant copper hair freed from the confinement of her trademark yellow hair tie slowly fell in place as she dropped from the trees and landed silently on the ground, stopping to survey her surroundings.

Though her appearance revealed her innocence and showcased her beauty, it failed to show that the young female was a martial artist, a very skilled one at that. Trained in the art of stealth, assassination and espionage her occupation was feared by society. In lieu with her personality, she never wanted to end the lives of her adversaries. Always trying her best to find ways to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. There were however times where she was left with no other choice but to deal the killing blow. She forced the mental images away, it could very much prove fatal for her to keep dwelling on the past. No doubt she was already being tracked down.

Only a few individuals knew what lay beneath the layers of beauty and innocence ; a tormented soul who was destined to wander forever without a place to call home. She bore many mental scars of tragedies that affected her family and her own life in particular which led to her current status as a 'Runaway', cursed to be chased by her clan and family for simply doing what was right and avenging her brother and clan for the onslaught they suffered at the hands of her uncle Raidou.

She watched a bird fly away, wishing she had the same type of freedom, to be able to soar through the sky without any trouble in the world. Alas, fate thought otherwise, and little did she know her time of peaceful reflecting would soon be cut short.

A small part of sunlight reflected off the surface of a small metal object that was speeding with deadly precision towards her. Her instincts already had warned her that something had disturbed the natural flow of the wind around her scattering it into various directions.

With the agility bestowed upon her by her Shinobi training, Kasumi vaulted over the object and quickly snatched it in midair before landing gracefully on her feet in a crouching position with the deadly weapon locked between her index fingers.

Her Shinobi mind set up on scanning the flow of air in order to determine the origin of the shift in the winds natural flow and thus find the path of the trajectory before the natural balance was once again restored.

Her amber eyes narrowed as she focused on a particular dark area of the forest before launching the kunai back at the unknown perpetrator with the same deadly precision. It hit its intended mark. There was however no sound of steel digging into flesh or grunts of pain that accompanied a successful hit. The sound of metal slamming against metal echoed across the forest, breaking the peace that had lingered there for many years. The distinct sound reverberated in her keen ears and the young kunoichi knew that her attempt had been thwarted by another kunai. But at least she now had no doubt to the location of her attacker.  
>Years of Shinobi training came into play as her body prepared itself for the no doubt tasking battle that lay ahead.<p>

A slender arm emerged with the elbow poised horizontal with a kunai firmly gripped in the person's palm. The figure slowly emerged from behind a tree and into full view. Adorning the young teen's curvaceous figure was a skintight form fitting leather suit that bore purple and white motifs with some parts accentuated with gold decorations. Dazzling locks of lavender hair swayed gently in the soft breeze. Gracing her features was a sly smirk as a shocking recognition dawned upon the brunette's features. A vertigo of emotions threatened to crush the female youth as she gazed upon her younger half-sister with a mixture of pained and shocked expression marring her fair features. Her lips parted and before she knew it a soft and nearly breathless gasp accompanied her siblings name as it left her mouth.

Upon hearing her name being spoken by the traitor, Ayane's eyes fluttered open, revealing two piercing orbs dipped in crimson as her name carried upon the wind.

''Nukenin'' The words were laced with contempt. The slightly older sibling nearly lost her composure to a fit of emotions as she noted that Ayane didn't deem her existence worthy enough to even utter her name.

''Embrace death as your eternal companion because you won't be leaving this forest unless lying in a casket!''

"Ayane, please listen...I-"

''Don't you dare slander my name or that of Hayate with meaningless affection. We are not sisters. We are not related in any way. You are dead to the clan. In fact the clan has increased the bounty on your head and personally assigned me the task of dealing with you.  
>In other words, you're finished''<p>

Words ceased to flow from Kasumi's lips at those words, her body trembled, her heart ached, she was confused and her mind was a mess. She knew one thing and that was that she wouldn't die here, she cannot allow it yet. The prospect of facing her own sister made her stomach churn, but she had no choice, she has to fight her...unless, she could find a way to escape.

**End of chapter 1**


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